Adventures of Another World
by Demo ODST
Summary: Evil Genius? Check! Team got your back? Check! Getting cast into another world with virtually no memory of your past life? Check? Follow Fox and Co as they get forced to relive their lives in a world not their own, with no clue they came from another world. Will they still be friends with the people they once knew, or will the new lives they have led lead them apart?
1. Prologue

**Yall are probably thinking enough is enough right now on the number of stories i got, aint ya? anyway, i don't care, i like my random side stories. and this most certainly falls under that category. this is just a wild and whacky idea i had but i feel will be a very entertaining story to write, so i hope you all enjoy it!**

* * *

The orange and white vulpine let his breath out slowly, his carbine's stock firmly braced into his shoulder. _This is it. five years, three clones, and god knows what else, but we finally got him! just one more fight!_ He couldn't stop that thought, both excited and afraid of what the results of five years of hunting the same man were going to bring.

"Team one, we ready?" he softly whispered that as he keyed his radio, the throat mic he had on picking up the noise easily.

"I'm good Fox." The almost formal feminine voice was the first to come back, able to hear her whispering behind him, but only knowing what she said because of the mic.

"Come on Fox, let's just get this over with already!" Fox couldn't help but roll his eyes at that voice on the radio.

"I'm with Falco on that. We've chased this guy for long enough." Another female voice, but she didn't have a single spec of formality in it.

"I know guys, pipe down, let me make sure Will's team is ready." Fox quickly changed to off his team's channel and onto the operational channel. "Lieutenant, how's team two?"

"Almost ready Fox. Mira almost has Bill's arm patched." Fox knew the voice belonged to the only human here. He had been sent by the UEC as a 'non-combatant advisor' when they picked up a contract to hunt down the people guarding their main target. His 'non-combat' role had gone out the window with in minutes of him arriving on their ship. Fox didn't know him well, but some of his newer team mates had already bonded to him quite well.

"Ready Fox. Just say the word." The human's voice returned once more.

"Alright, Slip, what's the thermal's say?" Fox keyed his mike again as he spoke to the one controlling the team's surveillance drone from outside the facility.

"Hasn't changed. He's definitely in there." The squeaky voice hurt Fox's ear a little, but he always did his best to shove that aside for his childhood friend.

"Alright. Breach in five." He flicked the safety off his carbine, his hand hovering over the door panel as he mentally counted down. "Now!" he fought the urge to shout that as he slammed his hand on the panel, the door to the building flashing open. in one smooth motion, he firmly stepped into the room, bouncing his weapon up to avoid aiming at the human coming in a side door as they swept the room. His weapon stopped on the white furred primate in the center of the room, starting to squeeze the trigger when his entire body froze in place, completely out of his own control.

"I'm afraid you were too slow, Star Fox." The cold and calm voice seemed to echo in the room as white light started to blind him from every direction. _Damn you Andross! What did you just do!?_


	2. The Flying Foxes

**Yay, chapter one of the sillyness has begun!**

* * *

Fox groaned as he slowly began to open his eyes to the forest around him, sitting up on his bed roll as he did his best to stretch out. _Good. Whatever that was must have been some crazy dream…_

"Oh!? Sleeping beauty awakes!" the familiar male voice made Fox tilt his head up to look back at the human, seeing that he was already fully clothed and ready to travel.

"FOXY!" that high pitched shout on the other hand left him with no time to react as a small form slammed into him, knocking him back to the ground and slamming the wind out of him. when he finally regained his senses, a small female spotted feline was now sitting on his gut as she beamed at him. she also was already ready to go, but she wore next to nothing. Just a leather vest, cloth bindings around her chest, and loose cotton pants, along with the red scarf all three of them wore. She was currently sticking her tongue out at him, one of her electric blue eyes cracked open at him. "Tehe… Morning Foxy Woxy!"

Fox let out a groan as he closed his eyes, just hoping she would get off him. "Miyu, do you have to be like this every morning!? I'm tired and achy enough already without being body slammed every morning."

"Oh, it isn't that bad Fox. It's not like she's heavy. Plus, maybe you wouldn't be so achy if you didn't let me destroy your arse in our nightly sword training!" Fox opened his eyes to glare at the human for what he just said, also fully aware of truth behind his words. He was, after all, the son of a knight, and a general. As such, he had trained his entire life in the art of swordplay. Unlike Fox, whose father had once been a mercenary, but had done everything he could to not train Fox.

Will wasn't what most would consider a typical warrior. He wasn't overly large or built, simply slim and fit, and only fingers taller than Fox himself. If Fox hadn't grown up hanging out with him, his furless skin would be strange to Fox, but by now, it was normal. Will had short and scraggily brown hair and steel grey eyes that always seemed ready to share a laugh with those around him. His attire was also vastly different than Fox and Miyu's consisting of a dark grey short sleeve tunic and a sleeveless scale mail vest, with simple brown trousers. He also had a light colored longsleeved shirt on under it all, with leather vambraces on his forearms. On his hip was mid length blade made for fighting from horseback, with a small steel covered buckler on his back.

"I'm going to roast you alive one of these days." Fox continued to glare at him as he shoved Miyu off, the girl hitting the ground with a loud yowl.

"Hey! I was sitting there sleepy head!"

"I don't care Miyu! I want to get up!" he nearly shouted that back at her as he finally stood and stretched, doing his best to ignore her pouting expression. As soon as he finished stretching, he scoped up his own blade from where it was lying next to his bed roll, sliding the scabbard back through the loop on his belt for it. the blade had once been his fathers, and though very similar in size to Will's, it had a Vulpine head on the pommel, and was engraved along the blade. Beyond that, it was a plain and functional blade and no more. It didn't take him long to finish packing up his camping supplies, slinging his small ruck sack over his shoulder as soon as he was finished. One glace at the others showed Will grabbing his small recurve bow, which was currently unstrung and in a leather sheath, along with it's quiver and his own small ruck sack. Miyu on the other hand, simply scooped up her spear, having no camping supplies herself. She was odd like that, going everywhere with nothing but the clothes on her back.

"Finally, o' glorious leader! Let's go! I want to get work soon you know!" Will's voice echoed among the trees as they began walking back toward the road together.

"What's got you so impatient Will? It's not like we're broke or anything."

"I AM!" Miyu's bright and overly excited voice echoed in the trees as well, having shouted so loudly that both Fox and Will were shying away from her.

"Yeah, we know, you are the reason we don't have horses! Is there any way you can shut her up Fox?"

Fox shook his head in response to Will's words, both of them sighing together. "You know, I had a really weird dream last night." Fox wasn't entirely sure why he had decided to say something about it but figured it couldn't hurt to tell them.

"Oh, do tell Foxy!" surprisingly, Miyu was the one to respond, not Will, who Fox had expected to answer. Will was currently scanning the forest, seeming totally oblivious to the conversation already.

"Yeah. it was really strange. I had this weird weapon, it was a lot like a crossbow, but it definitely wasn't. and I was surrounded by all of these people that seemed so… familiar but they are all strangers. Will, you were there too."

"Really? Don't start with that crazy talk again. Like all of your flying machine dreams you keep having." Will sounded annoyed to Fox, but that was probably because he was.

Fox had been having strange dreams like the one last night his entire life. None of them made any sense, and he could only faintly remember them when he awoke in the morning. "Oh, you get them too from time to time!"

"Yeah, only because of you! Besides, mine never have flying machines. Just weird weapons. Not that I can ever remember them clearly."

"Sooooo, how long have you two been crazy!? I mean, flying machines would be cool and all, but you know only birds can fly! And Avians for that matter, but only with magic!" Miyu had set her spear on her shoulders, both her arms draped over it as they walked. She had only been traveling with them for the past week, having joined their two man mercenary troop after agreeing to work the same job as them.

"Hmph, Fox has been nuts his whole life. Crazy Vulp' wants to fly. Like that will ever happen. Me, I just want to slay foes and women alike!" Will was grinning like an idiot as he gestured at himself.

"Will you haven't slain a single woman in your entire life!" Fox couldn't help but roll his eyes at Will, having known how he actually treated women. As much bravado as he showed from time to time, he was actually very kind and gentle to people. Unless you did something he despised. Oddly enough, taking advantage of women was one of those things.

"I didn't mean kill on the women side Fox."

Fox chuckled before he responded to him "Statement still stands Will."

"So how long till we reach Darrowlight?" Will's joking tone had finally disappeared as he spoke again, but his smile was still plastered to his face.

"Should be there by sunset. Enough time to find the inn and get a room for the night at least."

Will nodded to Fox, leaving the trio in a peaceful silence as they continued their journey deep across the forests of Lylat, Fox being absolutely content with the life he now led, only curious what adventures the day had in store for him, his strange dream from that morning now long forgotten.

* * *

The girl pulled her hood a little tighter over her head, despite that it really wasn't cold out at all. If she was honest, she was actually boiling hot under the dark red cloak she wore, but she hated going out without some sort of hood to hide in. and it wasn't without reason either. After all, she was a mutt, someone of two races. And not only were two people of different races mating frowned upon, but the incredibly rare hybrid offspring that could be produced by those pairings even more despised. So the girl, being a combination of a vulpine and a feline, had been bullied and mistreated all her life. As she grew older, she found that life was easier if she simply kept her features hidden with a cloak. Thankfully, she hadn't encountered a soul on her three day journey to a neighboring village, but she still kept the cloak on regardless.

She let herself look up as she walked, checking the position of the sun so she would have at least some idea as to when it was, realizing that it was already almost midday. Upon realizing that, her stomach growled, causing a small sigh to pass from her muzzle as she fixed her hood once more. As hungry as she was, she barely had enough food left for one more small meal, so she was going to have to wait until she arrived at the village that night to eat it. So she walked on, hoping she would find another stream soon to fill her water pouch with. The biggest downside to the cloak she was wearing being that she was near constantly thirsty.

"Going somewhere?" she froze as she heard the deep male voice, looking ahead of her on the trail to realize that a burly canine was now blocking the path, a jagged and rusted blade in his hands. The blacked furred man was snarling at her, a jagged scar across his muzzle, several more covering his mostly exposed body.

"Y-Y-Yes! I'm-m on m-my way t-to Da-Darrowlight-t! I'm a h-healer!" just the sight of the canine had her trembling in fear, just hoping her meek voice was understandable to him.

"Tsk tsk tsk. You're gonna have to speak up little missy! I can't hear you!" he laughed as he finished speaking, cupping a hand behind his ear as if he was straining to hear her.

"I'm a healer!" she managed to not stutter as she began to shout toward him now. "And I am o-"

"Oh, I'm sorry, what was that?"

She faintly heard a pair of footsteps on her left as the man cut her off, glancing that way to see a swine charging her with a club. She panicked, diving forward to the ground. She could hear the club whistle through the air over her head. she tried to start scrambling forward, tripping repeatedly on her skirt, only for something to slam into the side of her gut. The force of the blow knocked the air from her lungs and sent her bouncing across the ground, coming to a rest on her back. As soon as she could, she tried to get her assailants back into her sight, realizing that there were three of them now, another canine joining the pair already attack her. and judging by where he was, he had been the one to kick her away. all three were now calmly advancing toward her, weapons at the ready.

"Looks like we have a quick little mutt on our hands today boys! Gonna be a fun one!" the second canine was the one shouting, him clearly being the leader of the group, given he was wearing a fairly nice looking leather jerkin, and the blade in his hands wasn't rusted or severely damaged.

The girl did her best to start scrambling away from them as she drew a short sword from under her cloak, barely longer than a dagger really. "S-Stay back! I'-I'm warning you!"

Her shout only earned her more amused laughter. The leader of the group easily caught up to her, one lazy swing easily knocking the blade from her grip. "Or you'll what? Stutter us to death!? You pathetic mutt!" he raised his blade over his head to bring it crashing down on her, only for her to hear several hurried footsteps.

As the canine began his swing, a grey figure with a deep red scarf around his neck came sliding in front of her from a dead sprint, catching the bandit's blade near the cross guard of his own. As the figure continued his slide, he smoothly stood and spun away from the bandit, angling his own blade so that the tip rotated down and across the bandits neck. The smooth motion opened the canines neck in an instant, the figure not hesitating a moment as he finished his spin, bringing his blade around with him to send it in a murderous backhanded slice at the swine, who barely managed to catch the blow on his club. This left the blade lodged in the club, the figure merely using his far foot to kick the swine away, bringing the tip of the blade across the swine's chest as he did so. This opened a massive gash on the swine, though there was no way it was lethal yet. The canine that blocked her path had rushed over in the man's sudden attack, but the figure was too fast for him, snapping his blade into a vertical positing, his hilt skyward with the point toward the earth, easily blocking the clumsy swing the canine aimed for him. when the canine backed off, the figure quickly spun the blade out over his head and brought it down in a vertical slash so fast that it sent the lodged club sailing off, cleaving right throught the rusted blade in the canines hands and burying in the canine's shoulder.

The figure then easily yanked his blade free and moved to the swine still squealing in pain on the ground, one solid thrust silencing the swine. It was only now, with his incredibly fast motion stilled, that she realized he was a human, who gave her a gentle smile as he directed his attention toward her. something about the man was oddly familiar, but she could not place from where, no matter how much she tried.

"Hey th-" whatever he started to say was lost as another shout overwhelmed his voice.

* * *

"Will! Get down!" Fox's voice overwhelmed my own as I moved to greet the person who had been under attack, immediately doing as Fox said. He wasn't far from me, and as I dropped to the dirt, I could easily see the small orb of fire hovering over his hand before he pitched it behind me. Almost at the same time, I heard an arrow whip over me, likely passing through the space I had been occupying just a moment before. It was followed by agonized screaming as Fox's fireball likely connected. Of course, the scream was short lived, as the man was likely incinerated in seconds. But such was the power of Fox's simple fire magic.

"Thanks Fox! Didn't see that one!" I stood as I shouted to him, making sure to wipe the blood from my blade before sliding it away and dusting myself off. "Now where was i?" my attention returned to the girl lying on the ground, freezing for a moment as I looked at her.

 _Why does she look so familiar?_ The girl, who ever she was, was not like any person I had yet to meet on the Lylat continent. She had vulpine ears, and though the shape of her muzzle was vaguely vulpine, it was way too short and much wider, closer to the length of a felines actually. her light brown and tan fur was also much too short to be a vulpine. Beyond the oddity of those features, with her surprising amount of dark brown hair and sapphire blue eyes, she was actually very cute, to me at least. Most other humans probably would be appalled by a female on the Lylattian continent, but having spent over half my life here, I could appreciate their beauty.

"Hey there, you're safe now miss." I tried to smile as warmly as I could as I held my hand out to her, able to easily see how badly she was quivering. The girl was clearly terrified right now, and that was something I never wanted anyone to be.

"S-Stay back!" her voice squeaked out of her as she scuttled a few inches further from me. She had on a simple grey cotton dress that went just beyond her knees. As far as I could tell, she didn't have anything else on beyond the deep red cloak and leather satchel with it, not even shoes of some kind.

"It's alright Miss, I won't hurt you. really. Now, are you alright?" I gingerly took another step forward, still holding my hand out to her.

"N-no. ju-just a l-lit-ttle bbruised." Her voice was much quieter now, and still clearly very shaken. But never the less, she timidly accepted my offer to help her to her feet. A task that proved to be painfully easy. Now that she was standing, I could tell that she barely came up to my chin if you didn't include her ears. "Th-Thanks Sir."

"Hey, don't call me sir. I'm no knight. What were you doing out here by yourself? Roads can be dangerous alone, even if you know how to fight." I tried to continue my warm smile to her, but as per my usual, my eyes began to scan the area, the faint amount of adrenaline still pumping through my body starting to make me a little jittery. Fox was still a short distance away, and was walking our way.

His vibrant orange fur stuck out like a sore thumb in the forest along with his bright white sleeveless vest. Under the open vest, he had a dark green sleeveless tunic and trousers, eventually tucked into his leather riding boots.

"I'm a h-healer. Or-r, le-learning to be one." As she spoke, the body of the first canine I slew twitched, the girl immediately turning away and heaving, a flood of fluid spattering the ground.

 _Poor girl…._ "Hey Fox, can you deal with these?" I gestured at the corpses and he nodded, knowing exactly what I meant.

"What… the… hell… you… two… are… way… too… fast…" I was about to start guiding the girl away from the area when Miyu's voice cut across the area. She wasn't far away from us, but she was leaning on a tree and panting at us. her spear had been dropped into the grass around the tree, completely forgotten.

"Jeez Miyu, I thought you said you could keep up! Help Fox clean up around here!" I shouted that to her before I turned back to the girl, gently resting one of my hands on her shoulder as she continued to heave, no more coming up now. "Miss? Let's move you away from here. Come with me, please?" the girl nodded and shakily stood, allowing me to begin leading her back the way I came, toward where I dropped my supplies.

"The Hell… are you doing… with that mutt!?" Evidently, Miyu was still out of breath, but her voice was still harsh and angry. At her shout, the girl seemed to shrivel up beside me, trying to hide herself within the hood of her cloak.

"Miyu!" I glared at the feline as I gingerly ushered the girl on and away from the bodies. It took several minutes to reach where the bags were, myself shocked at the distance Fox and myself had crossed in such short order. _This woman is beyond lucky we heard her, and that we were close enough to help._ Once near the bags, I very gently helped the still shaking girl sit down at a tree, noticing how she immediately pulled her legs tight against her chest, keeping the hood of her cloak up so that I couldn't see more than the tip of her nose. "Are you sure you are alright miss?"

"I'm-m f-fine…" her voiced seemed to be shaking as much as she was, myself unable to feel concern for her. I let out a small sigh and moved over to my pack, opening it to start digging through it.

"Wh-what are y-you going to do with m-me?" her quiet and timid voice caused me to stop what I was doing.

"Make sure you are alright and leave you be. What else would we do? Hungry?" I pulled pieces of hard tack and jerky out of my ruck as I spoke, just hoping the small gesture would help relax the girl.

"Y-yes." I stood when she responded, moving back to her to give her the food. She immediately started eating it, making it disappear in seconds.

 _How hungry is she? I mean, it's pretty obvious she's poor but…_ "When was the last time you ate miss?"

"Yesterday." Her voice was as quiet as it seemed to always be, but at least she seemed to have relaxed a great deal.

"Oh… I'm sorry miss." I had no idea what to really say to her now, settling for that in hopes that it was enough. As much as I wanted to, I knew there likely wasn't much I could do to help her, save care for her until we parted ways.

"My name is Mira." Her voice startled me, having not expected her to speak to me again. "It's Will, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. Was a little preoccupied." I intentionally winked at her as I spoke, noticing the slight up turn at the corners of her lips. _Well, at least I got a little smile out of her._

Silence fell between us as I finished repacking my bag, quickly securing my bow and quiver to it once more before slinging it over the shield on my back.

"I believe this is yours." Fox's voice drew my attention as he held a short sword I didn't recognize out to Mira, Mira quickly scrambling to her feet to accept it.

"Yes, it is, th-thank you." she quickly accepted the small blade, sliding it away within the sheathe hidden on her hip. _For such a poor girl, that weapon looked to be of very high quality… I wonder where she got it…_

"So, Miss, where were you headed all by yourself?" Fox was being gentle with his voice as he collected his bag once more, not really looking at Mira.

She shuffled her feet as she began to respond, her voice suddenly seeming even quieter than it had been just moments ago. "Darrowlight. It's a little villa-"

"Really!? That's where we were headed ourselves! Do you want to join us for the rest of the journey!? It would be much safer than travelling alone!" Fox suddenly sounded utterly excited, making me roll my eyes at him. He loved helping people, but unlike me, he didn't try to hide it behind layers of sarcasm.

"Th…That would be nice, yes." As far as I could tell, she was smiling again, and much more prominently than last time.

"WHAT!? WE ARE NOT TAKING THAT… _MUTT_ , WITH US!?" Miyu suddenly and violently shouted, slamming the but of her spear against the ground in a surprisingly violent and threatening manner. One glance at Mira showed that the small amount of progress Fox and I had made in calming the girl had just been shattered by Miyu's outburst, Mira seeming to shrink away as much as she could while beginning to quiver once more.

"Miyu, yes, she is coming with us. if you have a problem with it, give that scarf you are wearing back and leave us!" I almost shouted that at her, placing myself between the spear wielding feline and Mira, furiously glaring at her.

"Hmph, figures _you_ would defend a mutt, human like you probably doesn't even know what that means!" Miyu turned and strutted off, headed down the path to Darrowlight.

"W-Why do you all wear scarves? Wh-who are you?" Mira's timid voice was shaking again.

Fox and I shared a glance before we both turned toward her, smiling and speaking as one. "We are the famed mercenary troop the Flying Foxes!"

I tried to hold the smile for several seconds, but I simply couldn't, wanting to smack myself in the face. "Damn it Fox, it sounds as bad out loud as it did in my head! the name is terrible!"

"Hey, no it is not! It's a very respectable name!" Fox instantly shot that back at me, giving me a hurt glare.

"It is! The name is utterly horrendous!"

Mira's quiet and adorable laugh broke us from our little argument, my heart melting as I looked at her. her hood had fallen off some how and she was grinning from ear to ear, and quite frankly, made her look amazing to me. "I think I like the name! it's silly, and it fits the two of you! It sounds a bit more like a circus troop's name, but I like it!"

Fox and I shared a grin, both of us happy to see the girl smiling as she was now. "Well, I guess with that endorsement, I'm fine with it. lets get going then! Darrowlight isn't going to just slide itself on over to us after all!" I gestured to the two of them to follow as I began walking after Miyu, the other two immediately falling into step.


	3. Darrowlight

**whelp, here's another chapter of my random shits and giggles story, hope yall enjoy!**

* * *

Mira struggled to keep up with the trio, despite now having had two decent meals in a row. The human had shared food with her once more when they stopped a little over an hour ago, but the three of them were all clearly in great shape, well fed, and used to traveling. They seemed to simply fly down the road, even with the heavy packs the two men carried. Whereas, Mira's small satchel of medicinal herbs was weighing her down and making it all the harder for her to keep up. At first, she attributed it to their taller frames, but the feline traveling with them was smaller than she was and had no trouble at all keeping up.

She let out a sigh, finally letting herself slow down some more, if only to help her aching paws and legs. Her breaths were ragged and shallow, and at this point, she wanted to tear her cloak off, if only for a moment of respite from the heat she was feeling.

"Hey, you doing alright back there?" the vulpine, Fox, had spoken that, Mira only just realized the trio had stopped. Both Will and Fox were giving her worried expressions, the feline though, looked annoyed about the whole affair.

"Just leave her behind already, she clearly can't keep up." Miyu spat that out at her companions, not even looking Mira's way.

"Miyu, stop. We started doing this mercenary thing to help people. So be patient okay? I'm sure the inn will still have some beds available when we get there." Fox spoke very calmly to the feline, who merely tutted at them and strutted off. "Anyway, you alright back there?"

"Ye-Yeah. I'm fine sir."

"Stop calling us sir, neither of us are knights you know." the human immediately followed her statement with that, smiling warmly toward her. the two of them then waited patiently for her to catch up, continuing at a much slower pace when she reached them. the duo had decided to walk on either side of her, keeping her between them.

"Miyu! Meet us at the inn when you get there! We'll catch up, alright!?" Fox shouted that after their companion, who just gave them a thumbs up from afar.

"So what are you headed to Darrowlight for anyway?" Will was speaking now, Mira fighting the urge to look at him as she trudged along.

"Oh, I'm a healer, like my mother. And we heard about an illness spreading there but my mother is too preoccupied with one in our village to go help, so she asked me to go in her stead." No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't place why the two of them seemed familiar to her. As if she somehow knew them from somewhere. _Maybe I met them in some sort of past life? That must be it…_

"That's quite noble of you."

"Not really Fox. We're healers, it's just what we do."

"So what's a healer doing with a blade as nice as yours?" Will's sudden question startled her, having not expected anyone to ask about the blade. Or notice it for that matter.

"Oh, it's my mother's. father gave it to her during the war, before I was born. Mother just loaned it to me for this journey so I wouldn't be defenseless." Her hand naturally fell to the cold hilt of the small blade as she spoke. nothing more was said as they continued on, the sun slowly setting as the trees began to break away to farmland. The small village that was their destination was already visible, only a mile or so from the tree line. Even so, the sun finished setting by the time they reached the outskirts, only a few of the wooden buildings being lit by lanterns. "So I guess this is where we part ways." She tried her best to give the two of them a smile.

"Yeah. if you ever see us again, and you need some help, give us a holler alright? Always willing!" Fox returned her smile as he turned to leave, beckoning for Will to follow. "Come on Will, let's go find Miyu. I'm sure she has gotten herself in some sort of trouble by now."

"Yeah, go on, I'll be right behind you." Will calmly said that to Fox before his attention turned to her. "So are you going to be alright on your own here?"

"Yes. Or, I should be. Thank you. f-for saving me today." Now that this moment was here, as little as she had said to them over the past few hours, part of her yearned to stay with them, for reasons beyond her understanding.

"Oh? Don't mention it, really. Ya know, for a healer, you're pretty squeamish about bodies." He was giving her a smirk that she could only describe as boyish, but for him, it was actually fairly charming.

"Shut up! I'm still new to this whole thing okay!? I've always had my mother around until now…" she looked away as she spoke to him, unable to stop the sudden flow of blood into her face, making the fur around her muzzle start standing up. She felt his hand come to rest on her shoulder, glancing back up to him to realize his smirk had become a gentle smile once more.

"You'll be fine. I know you will be. And um… well… here." She glanced down as he grabbed something from his belt, holding the small pouch out to her.

"No! I can't accept something from you, you already risked your life for me today!" she tried to gently shove the coin pouch away, only for him to use the moment to press it into her palm with both of his hands.

"I didn't risk anything today. Call it a thank you for coming to help the people here. Anyway, hope I see you again some time Mira. Farewell!" he stepped away from her as he finished, leaving the pouch in her hands. She took a pair of steps after him, wanting to stop him and not let him leave without his coins, but something caused her to pause. _What a strange thing to say… that he didn't risk anything…_

* * *

Fox stretched and yawned as he moved down the street, headed for the towns local guard post. He was hoping there was some sort of job or bounty there that they could do, especially now that both of his compatriots hadn't a single coin between the pair. Miyu, he understood, given he had watched her lose every coin she had in a card game. Along with their horses. Will on the other hand...

"So tell me again how you don't have any money Will?" Fox glanced at Will as Fox spoke, keeping him in the corner of his eye as he pretended to look away.

"Uh, I don't know actually. Must have lost my coin purse somewhere." He rubbed the back of his head as his eyes seemed to wander everywhere but Fox, a slight red tint starting to grow on his tanned cheeks.

"That Mutt must'ave stolen it!" Miyu loudly and angrily proclaimed that, some of the few people out on the streets today glancing at her.

"No, she did not, I gave i… uh lost it!" Will had now turned bright red, clearly aware he had messed up.

"How did I know will? You can't just go around giving your coin to every stray that passes us!"

"She needed it Fox! The poor girl had next to no food, and literally doesn't have shoes! So yes, I gave her my coin because she needs it more than I do! It's not like I don't have at least a chest full back at your manor!" though Will was right in that, neither of them had been at Fox's childhood home since Fox's father, James McCloud, had passed away, nearly three years ago now.

"That's no excuse Will! You need to stop and think before you do these things!"

"Oh go shit a brick Fox! She needed it, I gave it to her, and it's done. So get over it! now lets go get us some work." Surprisingly enough, though still bright red, his tone shifted from the embarrassed and panicked one he had moments ago to one of anger, suddenly speeding up to get ahead of them.

"Well, okay then Will…" Fox shook his head, shocked at his friend's sudden outburst, having in no way expected it.

"Well, some one is more of an idiot than he appears."

"You've got quite the mean streak in you don't you Miyu?" he glared at the feline, who merely shrugged at him. he let out a sigh before he sped up himself, aiming to catch up with Will, who was already waiting by the entrance to the village's guard station. It was one of the only stone structures in the entire village, a square building with a watchtower at the back. A single canine was up in the tower, watching the countryside for any signs of a threat. Fox took a short breath before he worked the latch on the building's single wooden door, stepping inside.

The interior of the guard post was fairly standard for guard posts everywhere, with a wanted board on the left covered in various wanted posters from around the kingdom, none of which had Fox not seen before, a counter dividing the entrance off from the rest of the building, which consisted mostly of cells. In a back water town like this one, the town guard were all locals, so they had no need for a barracks facility, unlike most larger towns. There was a single soldier sitting by the counter, the saggy old canine idly chewing on a piece of straw, his chainmail and tabard looking as old and tattered as he did.

"Great, don't tell me you guys got roughed up on the way here too? like we've told everyone else, we are too busy with whatever this illness goin around to worry about some idle road bandits!"

"Well you're in luck! We… may have taken care of that problem for ya on the way here. Four guys, two canines, one swine, and a feline?" Fox leaned up against the counter as he spoke, smiling in as confident of a manner as he could muster.

"That's what the reports have been, yes. How did two kids and a human warrior take down four bandits who have been harassing our community for months?" the guard was staring at Fox with an almost bored demeaner, clearly not believing they had taken the bandits down.

"Yeah, as you said, there were only four of them, we are all Mercenaries after all. So if we aren't skilled enough to take on only slightly superior odds, what kind of shitty mercs are we?" Fox tried to sound utterly casual, barely even realizing how cocky it made him sound. Once he realized that, he immediately regretted saying it.

"One of you is a kid." The guardsmen pointedly jabbed his finger at Miyu.

"Hey! I may be only fourteen, but I can still kill road trash with the best of em!" All of Miyu's fur stood on end, glaring right back at the guard.

"She really can. Will here was actually a little nervous when we first worked with her for the reason of her age, but she has certainly proven herself. That said, she actually didn't fight the bandits, that was just me and Will."

"Psh, lets be more accurate, that was me, with you roastin the last one cause you were to late to the party!" Will, gently shoved Fox as he spoke, knocking him off the counter.

"Wait, you are saying one of you took on THREE bandits single handed and won!?" the guard spoke before Fox could retort against Will.

"Well yeah, it was easy. The idiots had no training, plus, they were in the middle of attacking some poor girl so I just rushed in and annihilated them before they had a chance to respond." He spoke as if was the easiest task in the world, though for Will, it likely had been very easy.

"Look, I don't care, and unless you brought me proof of the act, you will be collecting no bounties from me!"

"Oh, that's fine, we were just hoping you had some sort of work for us?"

"No, I don't. Try the village leader. You dogs might have better luck with him. now get out of my sight."

Fox let out a small groan, but complied, beckoning for the others to follow him out. "Well that was a total bust."

"Well, what did you expect Fox, it's not like anyone knows us! we haven't made any kind of names for ourselves just wandering around for two years!" Will's voice was what Fox would've described as almost disgruntled. But he got like that whenever they didn't get work. Which was far more common than Fox cared to admit.

"Maybe we will get lucky with the village leader?" Miyu cheerily added that from beside Fox, her spear resting on her shoulder as she struggled to keep up with the two larger males.

"Fat chance Miyu." Will scoffed as he spoke, marking the last thing said between the trio as they crossed the small village, stepping up to the only other stone building in the village. The building itself was rather small and squat compared to the watch tower. That said, it was also one of the few two-story buildings in the whole village.

Fox gently knocked on the door, his two compatriots flanking him as they patiently waited for someone to respond. The door cracked open, a furred face appearing down near Fox's waist.

"He-Hello?" the child's feminine voice was weak and filled with fright.

"Hi there. My name is Fox McCloud, and I'm looking for the village elder?"

"Wh-What do you want with Father!" she shouted that, Fox seeing the way her eyes bounced between the weapons each of the trio carried.

"We are simple mercenaries, just looking for work and no more."

"Lizzie! Who's that at the door!?" a deep male voice seemed to resonate through the walls of the building, the door cracking open a little more as the girls attention left them. this revealed the girl's floppy canine features to Fox.

"They said they are mercenaries Father!"

"Well, let them in, I will speak with them once my business with the healer is completed!"

The little girl opened the door for them as her father shouted, letting them into the main room, which seemed to take up the entire front half of the building. upon entering, the first thing Fox noticed was the balcony running along the back half of the room, even with the second floor. On it, stood a brown floppy skinned canine with grey starting to streak through his fur. Almost as soon as Fox spotted him, a second figure stepped forth from the open door behind the canine, the deep red cloak and tiny stature instantly recognizable.

"Will?! Fox?! What are you two doing here?!"

* * *

"Miss Marshall, you know these men?" the saggy skinned canine spoke evenly and calmly toward her, causing her attention to slip away from the trio his daughter was letting into the home.

"Yes. These are the mercenaries that I was just telling you about…"

"Uh, excuse me! I am not male! Thank you very much!" Mira glanced down at the feline as the girl set her spear back across her shoulders, now that she was clear of the doorway.

"My apologies miss. Welcome to my home, I wasn't expecting any visitors, and my wife is ill, so a thousand pardons for the lack of a warm welcome. And I hate to leave you like this, but I have unfinished business with Miss Marshall here. If you would excuse us..."

"Actually, we are here to see if there is any way we could help. We are a little short on work right now so…"

"Oh, I'm afraid I have nothing for you either. If the local guard had no use for mercenaries, then I can not think of any either."

"Actually, I could use their help. As I was about to say, I'd like to set up a centralized point for the sick to be brought to, and having some hands around to help divide the more sickly from the less would be very helpful. And I'd imagine the town guard will be quite busy going home to home to find everyone."

"Well, I'm afraid I don't have much by the way of paying you all…"

"That's fine, stock us up on provisions, and give us a place to stay. That's all we'll need for this."

"What!? Are we just working for free now Fox!?"

"No, I'm paying you out of my pocket-"

"And me and Fox are being paid in food."

"Exactly, Happy?"

Miyu tutted at them, but didn't reply.

"That can very easily be arranged. Would there be anything else you require miss?" the village elders attention shifted to Mira, who tried her absolute best to not shrink away from him. which was an absolutely impossible task for her.

"Yes. If at all possible, I would like to use the local tavern as my hospital, and if we can, I would like to keep only the sickest of the patients inside. Those who are not in a life threatening condition should be kept outside the tavern, where two of these mercenaries will be sorting them and identifying common symptoms. I will also need water, in large quantities, and clean cloth." she tried to speak as confidently as she could, but she knew her voice cracked in several places. none of the others seemed to pay any heed to it though, all listening in rapt attention.

"Alright, Miyu and I can handle the outside sorting. I know a little healing magic myself, so it shouldn't be too hard to help out where I can. If we can get a hold of the supplies, it might be good to build some sort of shade structures too." Fox was speaking from down below, his voice firm and confident. "Miyu, if you can handle documenting symptoms, I'll focus on sorting people by severity and treating who I can. I've got parchment in my bag."

 _Wow, he really knows how to take charge…_ she found her jaw easing open as she listened to Fox, amazed at the very different person she was seeing now. And neither Miyu or Will seemed shocked or like they had any complaints about it.

"Mira, where do you need Will, I'm assuming you needed someone somewhere else, given what you spoke a moment ago?"

"Yes, Will, I need you to help me inside the tavern. Depending on exactly what we are dealing with here, it is entirely possible that none of the magic I know will be effective. In either case, I will need an extra pair of hands administering treatments, do you think you can do that?" she let her attention slide over to Will as she spoke, who simply locked eyes with her and nodded.

"If that's settled, I'll have the town guard begin spreading the word on what you need and gathering the sick. Kyra, would you be so kind as to tell sergeant Hargrove to gather as much clean cloth and water from the villagers as they can and bring it to the tavern? As well as to have his men start gathering the sick there?" the elder was speaking toward his daughter, who excitedly yipped before rushing out the door to finish her task. "Fox, if you and Will, was it? would be so kind as to help me bring my wife to the tavern as well? I will go and inform the tavern keeper that we will be making use of his building."

"Easily sir, simply show us the way! Miyu, go get set up at the tavern, here." Fox slipped his sack off his shoulders before handing it to Miyu, who quickly slipped from the room as the elder beckoned the two men upstairs.

Mira took that as her que, slipping out of the door and heading down the town's one main street. Not that it was a far walk at all to reach the tavern. Even so, she glanced down at her feet as she walked, smiling at the boots she wore now. they were old and ratty, but it was all any of the merchants would sell her this morning. For the first time in months, she felt well rested, having actually stayed the night inside the inn as well as being able to eat a full meal both that night and morning.

 _I still can't believe he did that…_ she didn't have much left now, but she still had some of his coin, and having already precured enough dried provisions for herself over the next few days, she had every intention of now giving him what little coin was left.

Her feet carried her into the tavern to find it almost barren, as it had been that morning, only the large and overweight swine who owned the building and Miyu were even in the building. Mira double checked that her hood was still firmly in place once more.

"I told you, there is no way I believe you about some healer trying to use my tavern as a… what did you call it? hospital!?" the swine was glaring at Miyu, his fairly tall stature and huge size easily dwarfing Miyu as he leaned on the counter, a rag in his hand, a mug not far from his other.

"She is telling you the truth sir. The mayor should be along shortly to affirm her message. If you will, it would greatly help if we could move all of these chairs from the tables. And any large buckets you have available would be appreciated as well." As much as she wished her voice was firm and confident, she barely managed to mutter that out at all.

"Wha was zat? Stop bein so quiet girl!" he shouted that at her, cupping one hand behind his ear.

"She said that we are turning your tavern into a makeshift hospital until this crisis with the illness is averted. Then your profits may begin returning as your customers will no longer be sick in their beds. So if you will, help these two lady's and these gentlemen prepare this space as Miss Marshall here requests." Mira nearly jumped from under her cloak as the town's leader spoke from beside her, firmly and clearly in a way that seemed to fill the entire large room.

"Uh, yea, sorry bout that, so erm, wha all would ya be needin little lady?" the swine was near instantly seeming to shrivel behind the counter from the sudden force of the town leader's words, his small eyes darting nervously between Mira and the canine beside her.

Mean while, Fox and Will were slipping through the door with a makeshift stretcher, formed with blankets and a pair of broomsticks, setting the sickly and gaunt form of the leaders wife on one of the many rectangular tables filling the tavern.

"Um, well, I need al-"

"Mira, speak like you gotta tell the whole world!" Will's voice thundered from him in a manner that caused everyone, Mira included, to wince with pain, the human grinning.

"Damn it Will, I told you to not shout like that indoors! We have sensitive ears you know!" Fox angrily retorted that at the grinning human.

"Oh, come on, I'm not even shouting yet!" his voice was much lower than it had a moment ago, Mira taking a deep breath.

"I need all of the chairs gone! Any pots or large bowls, buckets, anything you have that can retain a large amount of water! And if you could get a good broth cooking, that would be of at least some help!" she did her best to shout that out, her voice cracking several times. Even so, she didn't even come close to matching the force and volume Will had. As she finished, she felt a hand gently squeeze her shoulder reassuringly, glancing at the town leader for a moment to see him nod in approval at her.

"Eard ya that time loud an clear, little lady! I'll get the missus on that broth ya asked for." The swine quickly disappeared into the back of the building, Fox and Will already starting to remove chairs from the table they were at, placing them in one of the corners.

"There, knew you had at least a little set of pipes on ya, even if ya had to sound like a squeaky toy to do so." Will spoke as he past her, gently patting her shoulder.

 _What's a squeaky toy and why does it sound so familiar?!_

"Damn it Will, enough Will-isms!?"

"First, you know exactly what I mean, second, why the heck do we call them 'Will-isms'?"

"Cause you say them more often!"

"Uh, Will-isims?" Mira managed to cut them off as she grabbed a chair herself, moving it toward the corner they had been leaving the chairs.

"Yeah. we sometimes say things that make no sense to us… but we know exactly what it means. So, Will-isims." Fox stopped for a moment to explain to Mira, Mira merely shaking her head and chuckling as they worked.

* * *

I gently laid the back of my hand on a canine's brow, letting it rest there long enough to feel the heat bleeding off the man, seeming hot enough to be cooked with. A sigh slipped from my mouth as I pulled my hand away, dropping the small folded rag that had been on his fore head into a used rag bucket a few feet away. Upon discarding the used rag, I grabbed a fresh one from a bucket of cool water, quickly and neatly folding it before seating it on his forehead.

"Same thing here?" Mira's soft voice came from beside me, not even sparing her a glance.

"Yeah. Vomiting, fever, achy, had headaches all week before he finally collapsed. Nothing else." I glanced at the small piece of parchment sitting next to the man Fox had brought in with him.

"This is… weird. I've never seen so many people sick like this as fast as this." Her voice was still extremely soft, a small amount of pain bleeding into it.

I let my eyes fall to her, noticing that she herself was swaying on her feet slightly, a small quiver visible on what little of her muzzle protruded from under her cloak. "You okay? You're shaking pretty badly?"

"Wh-hat? Oh, yeah, I guess. I always get like this after using magic a lot. It's normal." As she spoke, she made a quick circular motion with her hand, a surprisingly simple looking light blue rune appearing in the air above the canine, just smaller than the palm of her hand. She immediately pressed her hand against it, blue light diffusing all across the canine.

"Mira, just, hold on a sec." I gentl tapped her shoulder, before walking over the the bar, having to weave through the many tables and people now with in the tavern. Once there, I quickly filled one of the ceramic mugs with cold water before making my way back to her, handing her the mug.

"Thanks." She accepted the mug, gulping it down in one go, her hood falling down in the process. Her eyes seemed unable to really focus on anything as she continued to dip and sway like a ship at sea. As I watched, she took several long blinks, her eyes slowly dancing about the room until they stopped on me.

"Mira, maybe you should rest for a bit. If you go down, this whole thing goes belly up."

"I'm alright. I feel like I should know what's going on here, it's like the source is on the tip of my tongue but I just can't place it!" her voice actually raised in volume as her ears flattened against her hair.

"Okay, again, sit down, take a break. We've got the more serious patients at least better. You won't be able to do much if you pass out from using too much magic." I set my hand on one of her shoulders, gently pressing her toward one of the walls where the chairs had all been set aside, but she did not budge at all.

"No, I'll be fine. This is more important anyway."

The doors to the tavern suddenly burst forth, allowing Fox to come dashing inside. "Mira, Will! People out here just started dro…dr…" he started to stagger back and forth for a moment, clutching the side of his head. "Damn this hurts! People just started dropping like flies out there!" he glanced back over his shoulder, out the still open doors as he continued. "Miyu?... Miyu!" he suddenly ran back out the door, myself about to rush after him.

"Will! I th-th…" Mira's voice drew my attention back to her seeing her stagger back and forth before me. Her eyes suddenly glazed over, just before she began to fall.

I reacted as soon as she began falling, rushing between the small space between us to catch her before she could slam into the floor, easing her onto the bare wood. "Mira!? Mira, come on, wake up!" I gently shook her, but she merely let out a soft moan, her eyes now closed.

 _What the hell is going on here!_


End file.
